Deutsche Telekom’s Fiber Milestone Meets a Bruised Stock Ahead of T-Mobile US Results

Deutsche Telekom adds 170,000 fiber lines in March, but shares fall 17% on merger speculation with T-Mobile US. Q1 earnings from U.S. arm today could shift sentiment.

The German telecom giant is laying the groundwork for future growth at a blistering pace, even as its share price takes a beating from merger speculation. Deutsche Telekom has now crossed the 13-million mark for fiber-optic connections, adding 170,000 new lines in March alone — or 5,873 per working day during the first quarter. The infrastructure push, aimed at meeting surging demand for high-bandwidth services like cloud computing, is designed to fortify the company’s competitive position in both the consumer and business segments.

Yet the stock tells a different story. Shares have shed nearly 17% over the past month, closing at €26.87 on Monday — barely above their yearly low. The culprit? A Bloomberg report suggesting that Deutsche Telekom is exploring a full merger with its U.S. subsidiary, T-Mobile US, via a new holding company. The talks are described as preliminary and far from certain, requiring political backing, but the uncertainty has been enough to rattle investors.

All eyes now turn across the Atlantic. T-Mobile US is set to release its quarterly results later today, and the numbers carry outsized weight. The American arm generates the lion’s share of the Bonn-based group’s profits. Analysts are forecasting revenue of roughly $23 billion, a 10% year-on-year increase, with earnings per share expected at $2.01. These figures will serve as a crucial preview for Deutsche Telekom’s own quarterly report, due on May 13.

The management’s full-year targets are ambitious: adjusted operating profit of €47.4 billion and free cash flow of nearly €20 billion. Hitting those marks would provide a solid rebuttal to the current market pessimism. Meanwhile, T-Mobile US has already signaled confidence by expanding its share buyback program for 2026, now set to return up to $18.2 billion to shareholders by year-end.

Despite the stock’s slide, many analysts remain bullish. Barclays, for instance, maintains an “Overweight” rating with a €39.50 price target — implying roughly 47% upside from current levels. The disconnect between the operational momentum and the share price is stark, but today’s U.S. earnings could be the catalyst that narrows the gap.